


Breathe

by willowharmony13



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24609766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowharmony13/pseuds/willowharmony13
Summary: Kayla has a panic attack, and Valentina does her best to help.
Relationships: Kayla Knowles/Valentina Diaz
Kudos: 19





	Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> TW: depiction of a panic attack, depiction of an asthma attack

In for 7, hold for 4, out for 11. She could do this on her own, she could do this. Kayla’s hands were clamped tight on the hem of her overshirt, trying to ground herself in the present moment, but it wasn’t working. One moment she’s been fine, just strolling past the forges, and the next, something in there must’ve gone wrong, because there was a BANG- and Kayla’s vision went black. Suddenly she could just smell smoke and taste blood and feel her feet running and hear Michael shouting “PERCY, THE BRIDGE-“

In for 7, hold for 4, out for 11. She could control her breathing, she could. She wasn’t going to need her inhaler over this, that would only make her jittery and make the anxiety worse. It didn’t matter that she could feel her throat tightening and hear her breathing turn into wheezing, she was FINE, she had to be fine-

“Kayla?”

Valentina’s voice broke through the fog, and while it helped Kayla remember where she was, the part of her brain that was in the present hated that Val was seeing her like this. She was supposed to be stronger than this, better than this-

“Kayla, honey, I need you to talk to me. What’s going on?” Val sounded really worried, no, she didn’t want to worry her, she shouldn’t worry about her, she’d be fine, she just needed to say so. Kayla opened her mouth to respond and all that came out was a remarkably goose-like honk. 

Ah. So she  was having an asthma attack.

“That- that’s not a good sound. Oh shit, where’s your inhaler, do you have it on you?” Despite her best attempts to stay calm, the panic was seeping into Valentina’s voice.

Kayla simply shook her head in response. Will would kill her for not keeping it on her, but she hated carrying it around everywhere. It was clunky and didn’t fit in any of her pockets well and a few campers had given her crap when they’d seen her use it, so now she just left it in the cabin.

Without another word, Valentina grabbed her by the hand and started dragging her towards Cabin 7. Moving quickly was difficult with closing airways, but, to be fair, it was also a motivating factor. Val flung the door open with a crash, interrupting one of Austin’s practice sessions, but she ignored his complaints and made a beeline to Kayla’s bunk, easily finding her girlfriend’s inhaler and giving it a quick shake before pressing it into Kayla’s hand. Two puffs, and Kayla could feel her lungs opening up again.

“Th-th-thanks,” she muttered, avoiding looking Valentina in the eye.

“Of course, honey,” Val replied. “Though if you scare me like that again, I’m not speaking to you for a week,” she joked.

Kayla just stared at her hands, embarrassed and overwhelmed.

Val took hold of one of Kayla’s hands. “You know, you can tell me what it was, if it would help. You don’t have to, but you can,” she coaxed.

Kayla let out a shaky breath. “Something blew up in the forges and then- flashback. The bridge- Michael- I couldn’t-“ Kayla stopped talking because she knew if she tried to keep going, she’d start sobbing.

“Oh, honey, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Valentina soothed. “What do you need right now?”

“Just… hold me?”

“Any time.”

And so the two of them laid down on Kayla’s bunk, wrapped in each other’s arms, and the cabin was quiet until-

“Uh… Kayla… if you’re okay now… that’s pretty gay,” Austin called out.

“FUCK OFF, AUSTIN!”


End file.
